I thought we all agreed gamification was deeply uncool and never to be mentioned again? That hasn’t stopped Classcraft’s RPG-based program for schools spreading to 25 countries and planning to go freemium.

According to Venture Beat (via Technobob) there are 7,000 kids over 25 countries currently levelling up mages, warriors and healers to access real world buffs like being able to turn up late, gain extra time in tests and even ask if an exam answer is right (that one’s called ‘Healer’s Ardent Faith’). The system’s apparently also open to abuse. One ability called teleport lets students leave the class for 2 minutes and can be stacked up to a total of ten.

XP is earned for good work while characters can be ‘hurt’ or lose HP for being late and other bad behaviour. Players can also die, losing everything and damaging others in their team, encouraging groups to support each other.

It currently doesn’t cost anything but will be adding a free-to-play model that will let students buy gear and pets for avatars online, and a soon to be released mobile app. That sees coins earned as well as XP that can be spent on character customisation. Those coins can also be bought with real money. There is a free version but that ditches “customizable avatars, pets, iOS app support, or interactive class forums”.

This post originally appeared on Kotaku UK, bringing you original reporting, game culture and humour with a U from the British isles. Follow them on @Kotaku_UK.